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Monday, May 31, 2010

From Chicago, home of the biggest ball of mud (It's in my backyard. Really.), it's your host, the woman who bravely donned a bathing suit in public in order to take the kids to the pool, Dawn Meehan!

It was Savannah's birthday on Tuesday and it's Lexi's birthday tomorrow, so I had a joint party for them on Saturday. For the first time in nearly 16 years, I didn't make their cakes. I feel like such a slacker, but I've gotta tell ya, after I placed my order at the bakery, the knot in my stomach disappeared because I knew I'd just freed up a good 8 hours that wouldn't have to be spent baking and decorating. I asked them if it would be ok before I ordered the cake and they both said it was fine.

Here's their store-bought ("store-bought" has to be said with great derision) cake:

Yeah, yeah, I think he's dorky too, but the girls like him.

And here's the kind of thing that happens when 10 kids put their heads together. It's a redneck slip-n-slide the kids made out of tarps, plastic drop-cloths, paint cans, 2X4s, baseball bats, and a hose. Yeah, we're classy. Note how it ends on the cement sidewalk. What could go wrong?

The dads, standing around, beer in hand, don't see any problem with it.

It wasn't long before the kids convinced their Uncle Sam to take them up to the store to buy a real one.

And now, answers to your questions...

Dawn, where does that hate mail go, because once upon a little while I sent you some, just to be silly and never got an answer.It probably went into the giant pile of mail that I never quite get around to answering, Rita. I'm sorry. My inbox is a scary thing.

Wow, what a week! Is Savannah off her crutches? Looking at the picture (cute dress!), you'd never know she recently had knee surgery.She's technically still supposed to be using the crutches, but I let her ditch them at church that day.

And do you ever stash anything for yourself to do in the car while you're waiting (ten minutes early to pick someone up because the one day you leave on time, there's no traffic, etc.)? I still never remember to bring something to do.I've always got my iPhone with me so I play solitaire or Scrabble or read mail, or I just recline my seat, close my eyes and hope I'm not snoring or drooling on myself when my kids and/or their friends' parents walk out to my car.

I'm sorry but Chicago is not going to win. I'm a die hard Flyers fan and I have been since I was 2 years old. Let's GO FLYERS!!Uh yeah. What's the score? Who's up in the series? What was that? The Hawks, you say? Oh yeah!

You know, before reading about your great adventures downtown, I thought, "Man! Dawn is looking great!" No lie. I really thought that. I can't believe he didn't hit on you! You're looking fantastic!It's smoke and mirrors. (And strategically cropped photos.) But you're my new best friend!

Dawn, when you call yourself fat it just makes those of us who really ARE fat feel fatter. You're not fat, sweetie, you have a few extra pounds that proclaim, "I created and gave birth to six beautiful children." You carry them well and you should be proud.I've learned it's all relative. I had a friend who would complain when she was carrying around an extra 5 pounds. She was a size 3. I used to roll my eyes. But the thing is, those extra 5 pounds really bothered her. She wasn't comfortable when the scale went up. Her clothes didn't fit the same. Yeah, to a person who has more than 5 pounds to lose, it sounds ridiculous, but you can't make light of another person's weight struggles just because you may have more to lose than they do. It's all relative.

Honestly.. WHERE do spoons go?!?With the single socks.

All of my sippy cups end up looking that way. The part that sucks? My kids are clearly going to use sippy cups until they go to college. Sigh.:::raising hand::: Here too. Honestly, Brooklyn is perfectly capable of drinking out of a regular cup, but since she doesn't eat and subsists on chocolate milk and ketchup, I let her walk around with a sippy all day. What can I say? She's my sixth. I've given up.

Do you ever take the kids to the drive-in?I take them to Sonic, America's Drive-In, just because I'm addicted to the strawberry limeade. But as far as a drive-in theater, I don't know of any around here. I guess I'm more of a RedBox girl. Which reminds me, if I don't return Extraordinary Measures soon, I'm going to own it. It was a good movie, btw. It has Brendan Fraser. Yum. Based on a true story. Harrison Ford as an eccentric scientist.

And speaking of Sonic... A few of you may have read on Facebook where I was complaining that my van smelled like onions, feet and funk. Yeah well I found the source. It wasn't Jackson's hockey equipment like I originally thought. I mean, his pads smell nasty, but that wasn't the source of the stink. It was a stink that had a life of its own. And it was from...

old strawberries stuck to the lid of a cup, AND

a moldy orange peel, AND

a couple jalapenos and a cheddar pepper, AND

a bag of onion rings. Yep, it's been in the 90s here. Onion rings. Week old onion rings. In a 90+ degree car.

decomposing onion rings in the heat of a closed-up car

I don't know how I didn't throw up while taking these pics. Do you see the lengths I go to for this blog? Getting sick again just thinking about that smell. GAG!

Blah! I gotta say, at least the Sonic food is decomposing a bit. McDonald's food could be left in the car for years and it'd look the exact same as it did when you ordered it 10 yrs ago. Scary! And gross!! :-P

What, exactly, would be so bad about your kids using sippy cups until they go to college? I'm going into my fourth year of a Ph.D. program and have a cupboard full of take 'n toss containers, sippy cups and baby spoons. (I have no kids). I had people over for dinner on Wednesday and we had our wine in sippy cups, because my cat knocks everything over. Is this weird, or something? Hm ...

You don't have to publish this comment because it has geographical information in it. It's up to you. The Cascade Drive-In is in West Chicago, on North Avenue (Rt. 64) between Prince Crossing and Route 59. It's a lot of fun and our kids love it, but they have raised their prices over the past few years. It's a double-feature, though, which helps.

We got these: http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?Prod_Id=RP091206 from Wal-Mart (and now our local grocery store has them). They come in 8 ounces and 16 ounces and they're fabulous! They are definitely age appropriate and they are leak-proof. They also work in lunch boxes to save money on juice boxes.

I have a 7 year old who can drink out of a regular cup, but just sit and drink a cup of something, so we give her these cups so that she can take them anywhere in the house and I don't have to worry about them tipping and leaking. Just be careful...if you leave one with juice in it in a hot car, it will expand as the juice gets hot and eventually ferments. Do NOT open...just immediately take it and toss it in the trash and buy a new one. I speak from experience. :)

I dragged my husband into the room to read the part about the redneck slip n slide~esp. the part about the dads not seeing a problem with it. Same here with our friends. The guys take all the kids camping one weekend in the summer while us ladies go out to eat, see chick flicks and get pedicures. We tell them to just not tell us all the crazy things they do that weekend!!

You said, "It has Brendan Fraser. Yum." I totally agree!! Ever since I saw "Encino Man" (yeah, that ages me!!) I've been drooling over him. ;o)

Your cakes are so much better than the one you bought (in fact I think you should submit that to cakewrecks - the colours and the amount of stuff mkae it a little eye watering to look at) but it's totally understandable you find it hard to find the time! I was also wondering if Joe has sent birthday cards or anything to the kids? Or have his parents? Props to you for keeping everything together so well! There certainly is a lot of love and happiness in your home xo